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Gellert Grindelwald
Gellert Grindelwald (c. 1883-1998) was considered the most dangerous Dark Wizard of all time, except for Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort. He was schooled at Durmstrang Institute and later took up a friendship with Albus Dumbledore when he lived in Godric's Hollow for a summer following his expulsion. The two made plans to find the Deathly Hallows and create a world in which Muggles would be subservient to wizards and witches. This partnership fell apart after the two were involved in a three-way duel with Aberforth Dumbledore that resulted in Ariana Dumbledore's death. Grindelwald left England and soon stole the Elder Wand and built an army, rising to power in continental Europe. During his reign of terror he murdered many wizards and muggles. In 1945, at the height of his power, his former friend Dumbledore confronted him due to the cries of the public and defeated him in what became a legendary duel. Grindelwald was subsequently imprisoned in his own prison Nurmengard for decades. He was slain there by Lord Voldemort in 1998 when Voldemort was in search of the Elder Wand, which Grindelwald refused to give him any information about. Biography Early life Gellert Grindelwald was born around 1883 somewhere in Europe, likely Germany or Austria-Hungary''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ch. 18 -- took a portkey home and fled the country. He was educated at the wizarding school of Durmstrang Institute, and as a student he proved himself to be as equally talented as Albus Dumbledore, but unlike him, he didn't use his brilliance to win awards and prizes. Instead, he was devoted to experimenting with Dark magic. However, his experiments became so twisted that he was expelled. He was particularly interested in the Deathly Hallows, to the point of basing his mark on the Hallows' symbol, and engraving it on the walls of Durmstrang prior to his departure. His research led him to Godric's Hollow, England, where Ignotus Peverell, said to be the rightful keeper of Death's Cloak of Invisibility, had been laid to rest. There, he stayed with his great-aunt, Bathilda Bagshot.Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ch. 18 Friendship It was in Godric's Hollow that Grindelwald met and befriended Albus Dumbledore, a young wizard as talented and brilliant as he. The two teenage boys became united by their ambitions for glory, "a new world order" in which wizards would rule over Muggles, and their shared passion for the Deathly Hallows. While plotting they came up with what would be Grindelwald's slogan, "For the Greater Good."''Deathly Hallows, letter from Albus to Gellert, Ch. 18. The two became extremely close, even to the point of romantic attraction on Dumbledore's partLeaky Cauldron: J.K. Rowling's Comments at Carnegie Hall 20 October 2008. At some point Grindelwald became aware of his friend's attraction to him, and used this to his advantage, manipulating the other boy into aiding him in his plansJ.K. Rowling explains Grindelwald & Dumbledore's relationship; Draco's wand transfer. However it seems likely that he had at least cared for Dumbledore, as he later gave his life attempting to protect Dumbledore's tomb from desecration by Lord Voldemort. Aberforth Dumbledore became aware of the pair's research, and opposed them. He attempted to persuade them against their plans for the sake of taking care of his damaged sister, setting Grindelwald on the defensive. He inflicted the Cruciatus Curse on Aberforth, which resulted in a three-way duel in which Ariana Dumbledore, Albus and Aberforth's younger sister who had difficulty controlling her magic, was killed. The two Dumbledores were devastated. Albus ended his friendship with Grindelwald, who fled the country, not wanting to be associated with the death.Deathly Hallows, Ch. 28 Rise to dark power Working on his own from that point forward, Grindelwald delved into his research of the Deathly Hallows, and uncovered the location of the Elder Wand. Rumours had been circulating that the renowned wandsmith Gregorovitch had the wand and was trying to duplicate its properties. Grindelwald broke into the workshop and stole the wand from him''Deathly Hallows'', Ch. 24, as is evidenced by Lord Voldemort using Legilimency to investigate Gregorovitch's mind decades later; he saw a memory of Grindelwald leaping merrily out of a window with his prize. This same image haunted Harry Potter as he was working on finding the identity of the youth.Deathly Hallows, Ch. 14. Over the years, Grindelwald raised an army and began a reign of terror that spread through several European countries. He never tried to become powerful in Britain because he feared Albus Dumbledore, who was "a shade more skilfull" than him.Deathly Hallows, Ch. 35 During his reign of terror, Grindelwald murdered many people, including Viktor Krum's grandfatherDeathly Hallows, Ch. 8. He also built a prison to hold his opponents that was called Nurmengard. Throughout all this, he continued to claim that everything he was doing was being done "for the greater good." Fall from power and life imprisonment He was finally confronted, due to the cries of the public, by his old friend Albus Dumbledore, who bested him in a duel. Eye-witnesses have stated that it was the greatest duel ever fought between wizards. Dumbledore then became the master of the Elder Wand. Grindelwald was sent back to his homeland and put in the top most cell of Nurmengard. Death Fifty-three years after his defeat, Grindelwald was slain in his prison cell by Lord Voldemort, who was searching for the Elder Wand for himself. It was only during the confrontation in the jail cell that Voldemort learned it was Albus Dumbledore who had claimed the wand long ago. Grindelwald showed no fear during this confrontation, taunting Voldemort by name and laughing at his desire for the wand. Voldemort ended his life with the Killing Curse in the spring of 1998.Deathly Hallows, Ch. 23 Physical appearance As a young man, Grindelwald had golden blond hair and a "merry, wild" face. Harry Potter thought he had "a Fred and George-ish air of triumphant trickery about him". He was considered to be handsome. Near the end of his life, when Voldemort found him at the top of Nurmengard, Grindelwald had been emaciated heavily, his body becoming a frail skeletal figure, his skull-like face with great sunken eyes, and most of his teeth are gone. Personality and traits Grindelwald was a charming and brilliant young wizard, but even as a teenager he was fascinated by the Dark Arts and dangerously powerful and ambitious. He was highly intelligent, magically talented, and ruthless, with a vicious temper; for example, when Aberforth Dumbledore challenged his plans and tried to convince his older brother to abandon them, Grindelwald "lost control" and used the Cruciatus Curse on Aberforth. Grindelwald was considered the most powerful Dark Wizard in history, aside from Lord Voldemort. Grindelwald was a narcissist, being very self-absorbed and thinking almost no one was his equal. He gifted his friendship only to those who had something to offer him in return, such as Albus Dumbledore. He also showed himself to be highly manipulative, such as when he willfully exploited his friend's affection for him in order to gain Dumbledore's cooperation with his plans. Grindelwald apparently did not know fear, or at least did not show it. Even face-to-face with the only Dark Wizard to ever be considered more dangerous than himself, wandless and helpless, Grindelwald was openly defiant and even mocking, goading Voldemort into killing him. He claimed during this moment that, unlike the Dark Lord, he had no fear of death. On the contrary, he taunted Voldemort by claiming that he welcomed death. It is unknown if Grindelwald ever felt remorse for all he had done, but it is implied and speculated that he did. He does seem to have shown some scruples, as he felt the need to justify his atrocities by claiming that they were "for the greater good", and seemed to genuinely care about Albus Dumbledore, though he did not ever return Dumbledore's romantic feelings. He valued their friendship when they were young and respected Dumbledore's abilities; like Voldemort, he seemed to be afraid of no one except Dumbledore. Part of his motivation for refusing to give Voldemort any information about the Elder Wand may have been a desire to prevent Dumbledore's tomb from being desecrated, or even out of pure remorse for his own crimes. Magical abilities and skills .]] Grindelwald was brilliantly talented while a student and later as an adult. His skills in magic are comparable with Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort. As a former master of the Elder Wand, Grindelwald's magic was further enforced by the artefact's legendary powers. * Dark Arts Mastery: Grindelwald had a talent and passion for the Dark Arts from a young age. In his school days he experimented Dark Arts on his friends at Durmstrang. His experiments in Dark Arts were almost lethal, even in his youth. As an adult, he nearly perfected almost every aspect of Dark magic which led him on top of the list The Most Dangerous Dark Wizards of All Time, long before Lord Voldemort appeared. * Master Duellist: Grindelwald was a master duellist, able to fight with Albus Dumbledore when he was at the height of his power; their duel has entered history as the greatest duel between two wizards ever fought. He defeated and killed many powerful witches and wizards in duels during his reign of terror in Europe * Occlumency: Grindelwald was obviously a highly skilled Occlumens, able to hide his ideas from Albus Dumbledore and able to protect the location of the Elder Wand from Lord Voldemort, who was the most skilled Legilimens ever. Aside from Grindelwald, Severus Snape was the only known Occlumens able to protect his mind from Voldemort's access. * Inferius Creation: Grindelwald was the first Dark Wizard who managed to create an army of Inferi. According to Dumbledore, Grindelwald wanted the Resurrection Stone for this purpose; however, the Stone's power is misunderstood, as it brings the dead in a non-solid spirit form. * Invisibility: Albus Dumbledore said that Grindelwald could make himself invisible without the use of an invisibility cloak, to achieve such a state, Grindelwald used an extremely powerful Disillusionment Charm. * Genius-level intellect: Grindelwald was said to be extremely intelligent, talented and brilliant as Albus Dumbledore. Relationships Albus Dumbledore .]] Albus Dumbledore first met Grindelwald when he was seventeen. They were introduced by Grindelwald's great aunt, Bathilda Bagshot. They got along almost instantly, according to Bagshot. They were ultimately united by their desire to have the Deathly Hallows. Although Dumbledore had romantic feelings towards Grindelwald, Gellert did not share this affection. Instead, he exploited his friend's infatuation in order to keep Albus on his side and maintained their friendship primarily because he saw Albus as his equal in power and intellect. They were very close for two months, making plans to find the Deathly Hallows and lead a wizarding revolution, and Albus neglected his younger siblings, Aberforth and Ariana, as a result. When Aberforth confronted the pair over this, Grindelwald lost his temper and attacked Aberforth. Albus rushed forward to defend his brother, and during the duel Ariana was killed. Grindelwald fled, his friendship with Albus over. Over the next few decades, Grindelwald gained power in Europe, and Dumbledore refused to face him out of fear that Grindelwald knew who had really killed Ariana. Eventually, however, Dumbledore could no longer stand idly by as his old friend terrorized Europe. In 1945, Grindelwald combatted Dumbledore for a second time in a legendary duel, said by eyewitnesses to be the greatest duel ever fought between wizards. Dumbledore won in the end, and took possession of the Elder Wand and imprisoned Grindelwald in his own prison Nurmengard. Many years later, in 1998, Grindelwald refused to give any information to Lord Voldemort about the Elder Wand despite the fact that he was imprisoned, wandless and face-to-face with the only Dark Wizard ever considered more powerful than himself. This seems to indicate that Grindelwald no longer held with the views of those who practiced the Dark Arts. It was speculated by Harry Potter that Grindelwald had given his life to prevent Voldemort from desecrating Dumbledore's tomb, perhaps indicating that Grindelwald retained some respect and affection for his old friend. Etymology *''Gellert'' is the Hungarian version of Gerard, which comes from the Germanic ger, "spear", and hard, "brave, hardy". Saint Gellert was an Italian-born missionary and martyr who worked in Hungary.Behind the Name: Gellert *''Grindel'' is old German for "bolt," and is also similar to the mythic monster Grendel who was defeated by Beowulf. Wald is German for "forest". Grindelwald is also the name of a ski resort in Switzerland. *It is of interesting but purely speculative note that the name Gellert is very close to the name Gelert, the name of a legendary dog of cultural, but little historical, significance to Northern Wales. According to local mythology, Gelert was the most faithful companion of Prince Llewelyn, mistaken for the assailant of the prince's infant heir. His "grave" is a site in Beddgelert (literally Gelert's Grave), Gwynedd, and the legend is popular in the area. *In German, wald is "forest." Grind is a scab, as in the hardened covering over a scar; could also be grinsen, a grin or big smile. The words grindel or grendel appeared in early versions of several Germanic languages, including English. Grindan in Old English meant "to grind," and further "destroyer," someone who grinds up others. In Middle English, grindel meant "angry." In Old Norse, grindill was taken from "storm," and also meant "to bellow," or produce a loud, frightening yell. In Danish legend, the Grendel was a fearsome, murderous monster of humanoid form. He was later defeated by the Scandinavian hero Beowulf in the medieval story of the same name. Behind the scenes * The date of Grindelwald's duel with Dumbledore incidentally coincided with the downfall of Nazi Germany. What's more, the prison Nurmengard coincidentally shares a similar name to the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, where war criminal trials of former Nazis were held. Grindelwald never gained power in Britain for he feared Dumbledore. Coincidentally Britain was one of the few countries in Europe not Axis-controlled. * It was revealed by J. K. Rowling during a tour in 2007 that Albus Dumbledore was homosexual, and harboured romantic feelings for Grindelwald. Although she did not intially comment on Grindelwald's sexuality, Rowling later clarified that although Grindelwald was aware of Dumbledore's feelings, he merely used them to manipulate the other boy and did not reciprocate romantically. * It has been confirmed that Jamie Campbell Bower will play Grindelwald in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsJamie's a bachelor of (dark) arts. He has stated that he believes his character to be gay, and has referred to Toby Regbo, who portrays the teenage Dumbledore, as his "onscreen lover". * Despite being expelled from school, Grindelwald never had his wand confiscated and destroyed, as he had it with him when planning for the revolution and attacking Gregorovitch for the Elder Wand, although he might have simply found another wand as replacement. Appearances *''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' *''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)'' *''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)'' *''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' *''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I'' *''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II'' See also *Revolution *Gellert Grindelwald's army *Grindelwald's mark *Deathly Hallows Notes and references fr:Gellert Grindelwald ru:Геллерт Гриндевальд fi:Gellert Grindelwald nl:Gellert Grindelwald Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald, Gellert Grindelwald Gellert